Hugh S. R. Elliot

Hugh Samuel Roger Elliot (3 April 1881 – 6 May 1930), best known as Hugh S. R. Elliot was an English science writer.

Biography

Elliot was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1899, during the Second Boer War he obtained commission in the Coldstream Guards. His son Herbert Elliot was born June 3, 1909.

He identified as a scientific materialist and was highly critical of metaphysical speculation. In his book Modern Science and the Illusions of Professor Bergson (1912), he attacked Henri Bergson's vitalist and non-scientific ideas. Elliot expounded three principles of scientific materialism: the uniformity of law, the non-existence of teleology and the denial of any entity that cannot be expressed in terms of matter and motion. H. P. Lovecraft was influenced by Elliot's materialism.

Elliot was honorary secretary of the Savile Club (1909-1917). In 1914, he translated Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's Zoological Philosophy. He was the editor of The Annual Register (1915-1920).

Elliot was an expert bridge player.

Death

Elliot died in an aeroplane crash during an altitude test in Hampton on 6 May 1930. An inquest concluded a verdict of "accidental death" and did not attribute negligence to his instructors.

Publications

Books

• Man Versus State (1907)

• Beasts and Men, Being Carl Hagenbeck's Experiences for Half a Century Among Wild Animals (1912) [translator]

• Modern Science and the Illusions of Professor Bergson (1912) [with a preface by Ray Lankester]

• Zoological Philosophy: An Exposition with Regard to the Natural History of Animals (1914) [translator]

• Herbert Spencer (1917)

• Punishment and Crime. In C. E. Fanning. (1917). Selected Articles on Capital Punishment. The H. W. Wilson Company.

• Modern Science and Materialism (1919)

• Human Character (1922)

• The New Philosophy of Science. In John Alexander Hammerton. (1992). Illustrated Encyclopaedia of World History. Volume 8. Mittal Publications.

Selected papers

• Elliot, Hugh. (1915). A Survey of the Problem of Vitalism. Science Progress in the Twentieth Century (1906-1916) 9 (35): 413-427.

• Elliot, Hugh. (1916). A Defence of Scientific Materialism I. The Hibbert Journal 14: 551-562.

• Elliot, Hugh. (1916). A Defence of Scientific Materialism II. The Hibbert Journal 14: 799-808.

• Elliot, Hugh. (1916). Scientific Materialism. The Hibbert Journal 15: 317-320.

• Elliot, Hugh; Mercier, Charles A. (1917). A Great Philosopher, Herbert Spencer. Science Progress (1916-1919) 12 (45): 143-146.

• Elliot, Hugh. (1921). Relativity and Materialism. Nature 108: 432.

References